Moving with your pet overseas

November 22, 2016 SouthAmerica

Bringing pooch along to Chile

Let´s start with the good news; Chile doesn´t require quarantine for dogs, which is a big relief. Your pet is your responsibility! So you have to start by checking your host country rules.

Starting with the USA side, the United States does not require much for animal export to any country. The important document is the health certificate that has to be issued within 10 days prior to your travel. The airline will have more requirements as I will mention later on. Basically we have to start taking in consideration the USA airline policy, which in our case was American Airlines. Most of them require a health certificate accredited by a professional veterinary. So it is a good idea to start with your veterinary and check for the current requirements, because the health certificate has to be completed and signed for international purposes. Check the IREGS (International Animal Product Export Regulations) web page for the latest updates.

American Airlines, as any other airline, has different ways to ship your pet. You can travel with your pet. You can book your pet in a separate flight, although this involves having a person to pick your pet up upon arrival to destination or you can have your pet shipped through a licensed commercial shipper, but remember the paperwork requirements are the same.

In our case we decided to travel with our pet because flights sometimes may have complications due to the weather. It is best for us to be together. You can have your pet as a carry-on or in the cargo area. For us the cargo area is the answer because Barley weighs 20 pounds and the kennel is too big to fit in the aircraft. She must go as a checked pet. You have to call the airlines and make sure there aren´t too many other pets traveling in the same flight because they have a limit. Contact them about two days prior your travel. If your flight has a connection you have to take that in consideration also because there are only certain connection cities that allow you to travel with your pet. If you have to change airlines then you will have to claim your pet and recheck it, if so, other rules might apply with the new airline plus more fees to pay.

Okay we are good to go with the size of our pet and the airline rules, we had to buy the kennel according to the size allowed. Basically they want to make sure that your pet can stand, turn, sit, lie down, and be very secure because in the cargo area it will get shuffled. We got the plastic kennel for Barley based on the guidelines. Our dog is an American Cocker Spaniel, but she is petite being the runt of the litter, which works in our advantage.

On the Chile side, working with your veterinary get all the documents required by the USA (APHIS) and in our case Chile (SAG). We needed a health certificate issued ten days prior travel, rabies certificate applied in a period no longer than twelve months or sooner than thirty days. The pet´s records should include date of vaccination, product name and serial number and prior to travel your dog needs the tapeworm test, flea and tick treatment. Before people will consider sedation to make the flight more bearable for pets, but my veterinary suggested not doing so because of the problems caused by altitude pressures, gives them more stress than necessary, so we ruled out that option.

Another thing to consider is the temperature conditions. Pets can´t fly if it is too hot (85 degrees or more), or too cold (45 degrees or less). You can waive this restriction with a letter provided by a certified vet that includes your name, vet´s name and his accreditation date and number plus the temperature that your pet is acclimated to. This letter has to be issued within ten days of travel. But if the temperature is below 20 degrees there is no letter in the world that will make your pet travel. (That is a good thing)

Also an important consideration is your dog breed. There is a list on the airline´s web page of dogs that are not accepted. Luckily for us our American Cocker Spaniel is not on the list.

Once you have all the documents ready and your travel day has arrived. Remember to call the airlines 48 hours before your trip to confirm they do have space for your dog. They told me to arrive super early to check my pet in so her trip will be secure. There are no reservations allowed, you have to do it right away.

Also in order to ship our pet to Chile we had to provide an address for the Chilean SAG. I guess this is to make sure that the dog will not be abandoned in their country. I found a veterinary in Santiago the only one who has a web page that works good and replied my email I found this place in la comuna Las Condes, called Clinica Veterinaria Las Condes. The vet was nice enough to reply to my emails and confirmed that once in Chile, Barley will be boarded with them. So I got the address and the name of the veterinary in Chile and everything worked well.

Once in Santiago an employee directed us to the SAG area in the airport to check Barley´s document for us this process was long but if the person in charge is there and can read the documents you have with you, you you’re your papers signed, stamped and ready to go.

Good Luck!

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